KCR announces lockdown of Telangana

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday announced a total lockdown of the State till March 31 to combat coronavirus. “It is essential that we take all care and introduce measures to ensure that the virus does not spread in the State. Hence, the State government has taken this decision under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, and a notification has already been issued in this regard,” he said.

The Chief Minister also announced that inter-State borders would be sealed and no public or private transport vehicles nor other private cars will be allowed to enter the State. However, lorries transporting essential commodities like milk and vegetables will be allowed to enter the State,” he said, adding that all modes of transportation – public and private – including metro, trains, cabs and autorickshaw across the State will remain suspended during the entire period of shut down.

Speaking to the media at Pragathi Bhavan after a high-level meeting where the government took stock of the situation prevailing not only in the State but also in the country, the Chief Minister said that supply of essential commodities such as milk, medicines, vegetables, groceries, fuel and fruits, however, will be exempted. “Some kirana shops will be allowed to function,” he said, but introduced a rider that only one person per family will be allowed to shop for these essential commodities. 

“People should follow these guidelines strictly and take it as a social responsibility to ensure that the virus does not spread,” he added.

Chandrashekhar Rao said that with the suspension of all international flight and no one allowed to enter the country from the sea route, the threat of import of the infection had been minimised that much, but there was need to contain the spread of the virus from the people who have already tested positive. 

“Telangana State has been fortunate not to have been impacted like other States. The total number of coronavirus positive cases in the State stands at 26 with five new cases reported on Sunday. Again, all these people are with travel history – two who returned from London, two from Dubai and one from Scotland,” he said,



and urged the people to show the same resolve and solidarity they displayed while participating in the 24-hour ‘Janata Curfew.”

The Chief Minister said only emergency and essential services of the government will function and these include power, health, fire services, police and municipal departments, among others. “The remaining departments will work on a rotation basis restricting attendance to about 20 per cent of the government staff,” he said, adding that the Chief Secretary will issue notification on the finer details of the lockdown decision including the items covered under essential services and the departments’ functioning.

He said both the government and private employers should pay full salaries to workers and staff under the Epidemic Diseases Act. He also urged people to report to officials if they came across any attempt by shop-keepers trying to blackmarket goods or selling essential commodities at high rates.

No education related activity including examinations and evaluation of answer sheets will take place during the shut down period, and a further decision on this issue will be taken based on the situation after March 31.

Reiterating that people who had returned from foreign trips must report themselves to medical authorities and go in for self-isolation, Chandrashekhar Rao said this was a pandemic that the entire human race was fighting. “People should not take the situation lightly. A week’s self-restraint will mean protecting an entire generation,” he said, adding that about 6,000 surveillance teams were working across the State to monitor those in home isolation. “This is not a curfew like situation, but people should understand the seriousness of the situation, the crisis that the entire world is facing, and display solidarity and cooperate with the government moves,” he said.

He said Health Minister Etela Rajender, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and DGP Mahender Reddy were in constant touch with their counterparts from neighbouring States as well as the Union government, as part of their exercise to keep a close watch on the unfolding situation.